Author: Zach Beasley

Do you remember how you started collecting coins? Although I started out like many kids, collecting coins from pocket change, I first discovered ancient Roman coins in 1997 when I was 29 years old and on vacation in Italy with my mom and sister. While in Rome, I stopped in Roma Numismatica and was stunned to learn you could own ancient coins. I bought my first Roman coin, an antoninianus of Gordia...

Ancient coins. The following is a scan of the article by D. G. Sellwood in the 1963 edition of The Numismatic Chronicle. The two sample coins and publication were sold on VAuctions in September, 2016: http://www.vauctions.com/ViewArchiveItem.asp?id=32953 Lot 698. [Miscellaneous]. Lot of two modern trial strikes by David Sellwood using experimental minting techniques. Includes: AR ‘tetradrac...

The practice of using coins as a medium of trade began during the Iron Age in the 7th and 6th Centuries BC, in Greece, Anatolia, India and China. Coins proved to be an efficient vehicle of exchange not only locally, but between different areas, since the coins were small and contained intrinsic value due to their composition of silver and gold. Trade obviously existed for millennia before the prac...

With all of the attention over the past number of years with provenance on coins to curtail illegal digging and trafficking, along with issues of importing, dealers are trying harder to add as much as they can about a coin’s history of ownership. One of the best and most interesting pieces of provenance is when a coin comes to market that is part of a documented hoard. Not only do you get to...

Judaean Coinage (Jewish coins) The region of ancient Judaea was witness to many different rulers over the centuries, at times being brought under control at great expense. Originally part of the Kingdom of Israel from 11th Century BC to 930 BC, the timeline of the rule of Judaea looks like this: 930 BC to 586 BC – Kingdom of Judah 586 BC to 539 BC – Babylonian Empire 539 BC to 332 BC &...

Quintus Pomponius Musa was a moneyer for the Roman Republic during 56 BC. According to H. A. Seaby, in “Roman Silver Coins”: “The representation of Hercules Musagetes and of the nine Muses on his coins are intended as a reference to the cognomen of the moneyer. We probably have a representation in detail of the statues in the temple in the Circus Flaminius built in their honour b...

The Roman Empire came to be from the ashes of the Roman Republic and Imperatorial periods, and once established by Augustus in 27BC, the foundation for the expanded monetary system began and would continue until its overhaul by Diocletian. The base unit of the empire was the copper as, and the system was designed mainly in fractions or multiples of four. The largest regular base-metal coin was the...

One of the popular themes for collecting coins is “One From Every Country” or OFEC. Not only can this a challenging theme, it’s a great way to learn about history and the world, along with being a perfect introduction to collecting in general since it is easy to start and inexpensive, depending on how complex and thorough you decide to make your quest. It’s a category withi...

The Sasanian Empire began after the fall of the Parthian Empire and existed from 224 AD under Ardashir I, to 651 AD under Yazdgard III. It was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam. The power and extent of the Sassanian kings grew so great, King Shapur I captured the Roman Emperor Valerian I in 260 at the Battle of Edessa and used the emperor as a footstool when mounting his horse. Ther...

The earliest known Papal coinage began under Pope Saint Gregory III (731-741 AD), however, the first serious Papal coinage began under Pope Adrian I (772-795) at the mint in Rome and continued through Pope Benedict VII (974-983). From the reign of Pope John XIV (983-984) to Pope Clement IV (1265-1268), no known papal issues exist. This is due to the Roman Senate taking over control of the mint out...

Not of Roman origin, Flavius Odovacer (or Odoacer) was an officer in the Roman Army by 470 AD. There is mention of an Odovacrius having fought against the Visigoths in 463, which may be the same person as Odovacer. Chronicler John of Antioch wrote that Odovacer was on the side of the Gothic magister militum, Ricimer, at the start of the battle against the emperor Anthemius, in 472. The scholar, Pr...

Right now, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, or more commonly known as the 2016 Summer Olympics, are happening in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Ancient Greece actually started the Olympics in 776 BC and they continued until the 4th Century AD. The modern Olympics started in 1859, after the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, and officially began after the creation of the International Olymp...

Our purpose is to provide a platform for the collecting community to gather and discuss all numismatic topics. We also will continually add articles from a wide range of experts and sources, along with the full digitalization of the Celator magazine by Wayne Sayles. Each issue of This Week In History is also here, so if you have missed any, they are stored chronologically when they were published.